His Pillar Of Strength
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: No matter what, as long as Blaise was there, Draco could get through anything.


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise. **

**Other challenges listed at the bottom. **

**Word Count **\- 1074

_Written for Sarah for GGE (this is so late, I'm so sorry). _

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**His Pillar Of Strength**

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Draco woke up with a start, his heart pounding in his chest and his lungs hurting with the effort to pull in oxygen. The Slytherin dorm was cast in shadows from the moonlight streaming in through a gap in the curtains, and he instinctively pulled the blanket up closer to his face.

He could still see the Dark Lord's grotesque smile in his mind and he shuddered beneath the quilt.

"You okay?"

He startled and looked to the side to find Blaise looking back at him, concern evident in his dark eyes. Draco shook his head silently, and Blaise slipped from beneath his sheets and crawled in beside Draco, their bodies pressed together in the narrow bed.

Draco shifted to accommodate Blaise, clutching at his nightshirt.

"How is it a nightmare when it's a memory?" Draco asked in a whisper, knowing that Blaise wouldn't have an answer for him.

As expected, Blaise said nothing, just tugged Draco tighter against him. Draco sighed into the embrace as his heartbeat slowly calmed.

"It's laughable that they all think I'm safe here," Draco said, closing his eyes. "These days, there is no such thing as safe."

…

They stood shoulder to shoulder as they were practically marched to the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco never thought that he'd miss the chaos that had been Slytherin in the morning, but he did. Everything now was so uniform, so structured and he hated it.

It reminded him of home and his father in all the worst ways.

In front of them, a first year cried silently, tears falling down her face. Once upon a time, Draco would have teased her for it, but now he could only empathise. Only years of Lucius' particular brand of parental 'love' kept Draco from doing the same thing.

Blaise leaving his side made Draco stumble slightly, and he watched with wide eyes as his friend slipped through the regimented lines to the front of the pack to the first year Draco had been watching. Blaise offered her a tissue and whispered something to her before he stepped off to the side, only to fall back in beside Draco.

"What did you say to her?" Draco asked quietly.

"I just told her to wipe her face… and to seek out Longbottom if she needed help."

Draco stared at him for a long moment before he turned to face forwards again.

…

"You've been quiet."

Draco turned to look at Blaise and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't have to follow me up here."

Blaise just shrugged and looked out over the castle grounds. He had a thick cloak covering his shoulders, but Draco could see him rubbing his hands together to ward off the cold.

"What happened during the break?"

Draco sighed and shook his head. "Potter."

Blaise blinked. "Potter?"

Draco nodded. "He was at the Manor. They, uh. I was asked to identify him and I… I couldn't do it. He'd been hit with a stinging hex, but I knew it was him, and I just… he's the only way this war can be stopped. I know I shouldn't think that way, I know that I shouldn't want—"

"I get it," Blaise interrupted quietly. "And what you did… that was brave, Draco. Really brave."

"It's a miracle _he _didn't just kill us all where we stood. He was so angry, Blaise. So angry."

Blaise twitched, and then he reached out and gripped Draco's hand in his own. "You're still here. He didn't kill you, you're still here."

Draco nodded slowly. "Yeah. But for how long?"

…

Slowly, Draco followed his mother's voice. He held himself stiffly when the Dark Lord hugged him, before he crossed to his mother's side.

"We need to get out of here," she whispered in his ear, nodding with her head behind them, to the bridge that could possibly lead them to safety— or whatever masqueraded as that nowadays. Draco looked back at the crowd, his eyes searching until he found the gaze he was looking for.

Blaise looked back at him, his back straight and his shoulders held strongly, a pillar of strength that Draco had leant on all year.

"I'm not leaving," Draco said, shaking his head. "I can't."

"Draco, we must!" she insisted with a hiss, her hand tightening on his painfully.

Draco looked at her and then back at Blaise. "I'm sorry, Mother."

…

Blaise was waiting for him outside of the courtroom. He looked wonderful, a mint coloured cashmere jumper topping a pair of jeans, and a charcoal leather jacket slung over his arm.

"Acquitted," Draco confirmed, his relief palpable. "I… I guess I didn't believe it would happen until it actually did."

Smiling, Blaise nudged him with his hip. "I told you so."

"Yeah. I guess you did. I, uh." Draco cut himself off and licked his lips, fighting the urge to wipe his sweaty palms on his robes. He'd made a vow to himself that if he didn't get time in Azkaban, it would be worth the risk, but now that he was faced with it, he didn't know if he could do it. "I… I realised something."

"Oh?"

Draco swallowed hard. "I love you."

The words fell from his lips almost naturally, though they were the hardest words he'd ever spoken.

"You don't have to do this," Blaise replied softly. "I didn't… I didn't do any of it for… this."

"I know," Draco said, nodding. "I do know that. And I know what's expected of me, but I… I don't want to marry a Pureblood Witch and sire a child to continue the family name. I don't—following the path set for me by my parents and my name hasn't really gone too well for me. I want to make my own path, and I guess I'd really like to do that with you. If you'll have me."

The smile on Blaise's face was blinding, and Draco knew he'd made the right decision when Blaise nodded and bent his head slightly to press a chaste kiss against Draco's lips.

"I love you, too," he said, when he pulled away. "Let's get out of here."

Their fingers tangled together like they were made for it, and Draco let Blaise tug him down the corridor. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but for once, he really didn't mind.

Whatever happened, with Blaise there to hold him up, he knew he'd be okay.

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**Also Written for: **

Disney - S2. Finding love in a friend.

Press Play - 3. Miracle

Angel's Archive - 13. Mint

Basement - 11. "There is no such thing as safe."

Marvel - 7. Brave

North Funfair: Christmas Sing Along - 18. I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus: 2. Write about Draco Malfoy

East Funfair: Yuletide - Step 1: 8. Hogwarts

South Funfair: Paper Chains : Blaise/Draco / Charcoal

Galleon: 12. Vow

365\. 305. Grotesque


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